Mouse

We saddled up Mouse again tonight. He's still the same today as he was the day we brought him. Quiet, laid back and in your pocket. Ron really likes him. The saddle we were trying to sell, we decided to keep it since it's fits him good. We rode for about an hour around the pasture. I still noticed Mouse has a limp when he's turned to the right. He doesn't see to favor it otherwise. Though much less than yesterday and hoping it gets better as time goes on. If he's not better by the end of the week, I'll carrying him to the vet and have him x-rayed to see if there's an underlying problem we didn't see when we purchased him. I have high hopes for this little guy. I feel he'll be the perfect trail mate to the other horses.

Farrier Day

   I had the farrier out to day, because Mouse lost a shoe some time late Sunday night or early Monday morning. I noticed it right off the bat on Monday morning. He had some skinned marks on his knee and leg, so I put vetricin on them and gave him his morning ration of feed. Late yesterday evening after our trip to the vet, I had gone out to feed, but before their evening grain, I got the grooming tools out and haltered him for a good brush down. As I was leading him off, he started to limp. I turned him back and forth in both directions and sure enough he had a limp. My first instinct was, it was because of losing the shoe. But, he hadn't limped before that. My next guess, was he might be sore from the injections given earlier in the day. I then proceeded to press on the area where he had the shots. He flinched when I applied pressure to the shoulder area, and his knees almost buckled under him. I applied some Icy Hot to the area, and didn't think anything else about it until today when the farrier came out. He was still limping. As we observed it more, we discussed the possibility of a pulled muscle. After all he had gotten that shoe caught in the fence. There was a place in the fence where he must have struggled a bit because it was loose. How ever the farrier blew it out of proportion and got us to thinking the guy we bought him from might have given him pain medicine to hide something worse. I immediately told him about the previous day or so, but he was adamant there was a hidden problem. ARG! I called the Vet later in the morning and told him the situation. He said the injections wouldn't have caused pain. He had given him a cortisone shot for allergies, so if there was any pain at all it would have taken care of it. He recommended if he wasn't getting any better in the next couple of days to bring him in and let him look at him. Enough said! I'll carry on with this later.

Jerzey

My lovely horse.

Worming and new name...

   We agreed our new project horse is going to be called Mouse. He's a short stout lil' guy, so the name fits well. Not to mention his longer than normal ears. lol Doc said he might have some Arabian in him. Though he was kidding, I said shush! cause' my Husband doesn't like Arabians. He has a small petite head. Baby doll small and really quite feminine looking. Any how. This evening, I went out to worm the horses. My  Granddaughter and I made it a team project. She wormed them and I took pictures of the event.

This was the product we used on Handsome and Jerzey. We used Zemectrin Gold on Mouse.

  Afterwards, we got the grooming tools out. Mouse's tail had a huge knot in it from being out to pasture. I sprayed some Show Sheen on it and brushed it til' it came out. That stuff works wonders.

Look at that knot, would you?

I took a profile shot. This is going to be the beginning of getting him into better shape. His coat is real dry, he has hair missing, and is desperately in need of loving care. When done, I rigged up the saddle with the new stuff. We fit it to the horse and Makayla rode him around for a few minutes until I noticed his shoulder looked sore. I felt around on it and he flinched. I walked him back and forth for a few minutes wondering why he was limping. As we were discussing possibilities, Makayla reminded us that he received 3 injections on the same side today. She's so dang smart. Very observant for a 12 year old. I have high hopes for her when she becomes of age.  It's getting late, so I'm off for bed...

Two days into our new project.

Floating Teeth

   I've been noticing the last couple of days he was doing something funny with is head. But, I was aware from looking at his mouth when we went out to try him, he needed his teeth floated. I figured this morning was as good a time as any, so I gave the office a call for an appointment. They set it up for us at 11:00am. Hitching the trailer, getting the horse caught up and loading him was a snap. What a nice easy horse to tend to. Such a pocket pony he is. He has a very pleasant personality. He doesn't know a darn thing about staying out of your space though. We'll work that our in time. ha! Every time we go out to the barn he thinks its feeding time. He's only been here a little over 48 hours, and he knows exactly where to go, to get food or snacks. He fits right in as though he's been here for years.

 We pointed him towards the high-side on the trailer and he bounced right in. Off we went to Terrell. He rode nice and quiet. Unloading him was easy. We let him stand tied until the Doc was ready. Quiet and patiently, I might add! When the doc was ready, we lead him to the stock and he walked in willingly. They prepped by giving him a shot of anesthesia for his dental work. Put a silly head sling on him so they could get him up where they could work on him. Then let him stand for a few minutes until the shot took effect.

Horse stock.

Dr Dan Turner

Rusty Rice Equine Tech

Getting on with his job.

Rusty applied the head sling.

Dr Dan fitting the device.

Flushing his mouth.

Say awwwww!

He shined the light in there wear I could see the problem areas.

Drilling teeth.

Poor guy is doped up.

  Doc finished up the job. He said because of the shape his teeth were in, bring him back in about 6 months. We had him give him a rabies shot. Doc recommended a allergy shot for his runny eyes. So he injected him with that also. We settled up the bill which was $150.00 minus the $20.00 credit we had with him. Still drowsy from the anesthetic, we walked him around for 15 minutes or so and loaded him up for home. When we got home we unloaded Mouse, took a nature stop, then went and gott something to eat at Braums. On the way home from there we stopped by Tractor supply and picked up a leather cinch, an off billet and a new felt girth to put on the saddle. I had taken off the ones on the new roping saddle we bought last year. Jerzey filled out so much, the saddle no longer with her correctly. It fits perfect on Mouse. Thats all for the time being...I'll be back later to fill in the rest of the day.

A horse with no name...

We haven't named the new horse yet. The previous owner called Rusty, but he only had him 2 weeks, so the name hasn't stuck on him. When we get to know him and his personality a little better, we will apply him with his new name.

We were fixing to head out this morning and he come to the gate to see us off.

Sunday ride...

  Early to rise and tacked up by 7am this morning. Makayla chose not to go to church today. Kela rode over to the house and off we went. All the horses were moving slower today and Happy dog dragging up the rear. We jointly decided to go in a different direction, so we headed over to the I20 area. There is a great passage under the bridges that go for about 3 miles round trip. There is a creek that winds around under the bridge for several miles and a nicely beaten path to follow. Plenty of water for the horses if they get thirsty and shade to get out of the sun. It takes about 45 minutes to ride over there from the house.

  All in all, about 1 and a half hours of riding time, depending on whether or not we ride steady or just mosey about. This morning was one of those breezy days that kept us cool, so the ride was short, but pleasant the entire way. In-between we had to stop for a educational view of Patrick getting to go in circles for acting as though he couldn't be alone when the other horses got ahead of him. lol Round and around he went. Up and down the side of the highway until he calmed down to a slow walk. Nothing like wet saddle blankets to make em' pay attention.

  Handsome was acting spry for a 17 year old. He jumps up and down, bounces all around. He can get quite cranky when he doesn't want to point in the direction she wants him to sometimes. Makayla just goes with the flow. I'm so proud of the way she handles him. He could use a few more wet saddle blankets too. The nice thing about him, is, he's not mean about it. He feels good and his actions reflect that. He's been the best first horse ever. It'll be two years next month since we got him. He's come a long way from there.

  Jerzey has a quiet demeanor most of the time. Always travels wit her head down. Sometimes I get to comfortable on her because she rides so quiet. However, I know better. Thankfully when she sees buggers, she doesn't get unruly. Slow to react and doesn't jump out of her tracks. It's nice to have a horse that you can lay back and enjoy the ride without having to expect a rodeo every time you hit the road. Traffic and city spooks are rare these days, but they all still have those days where they bounce like super balls.

  Reckon it's enough said this morning. So til' the next time...enjoy the pictures of our outing.

I20 and 635

Camera ham!

A mere shadow of my self.

Our new horse, Rusty.

  I'm always looking at Craig's list and noticed this horse about 10 days or so ago. Knowing full well an other horse wasn't something we needed. How ever...The other day, my Husband mentioned something about a buckskin he saw on the list and was going to call on him. But, for the last couple of years, he has wanted a motorcycle and was saving some extra money until the right bike came along. When I returned home from work, I mentioned this little horse, showed him what he looked like and it must have been just what he was looking for. The ad read...Gentle, cuddly and kid broke. There was a video link with-in the body of the ad, and Ron took-a-peek at it. Although he thought the horse was nice, he said I've always wanted a buckskin.

 Today, out of the blue, he called the people running the ad. They told us there were some people visiting the place, who had previously inquired about the horse. We thanked them for their time and asked them to call us if the folks backed out. About an hour later, they called. In the middle of fixing an early dinner and feeding the other mouths on the place, we opted to finish what we were doing and run out to Kaufman when it cooled off a bit. Around 6pm, Ron and Makayla hooked up the trailer, we run by the bank and off we went. When we got there, the horse was tied to the walker. He was a tad smaller than he appeared in the photos and thinner. How ever, he looked great. You could tell he had been rode long enough in the couple of weeks the guy had him, and was in athletic condition.

  My inquiries were normal questions. How old he was, health issues that he knew of and how well he handled. He's not current on his coggins, though they had only expired with-in the last few days. Rusty, "he called him" didn't have much of a handle on him, he only direct reins. "No problem, for me!" He is only 9 years old and still trainable. I went over him with a fine tooth comb. Checked his teeth, legs, back, watched him walk, trot and lope off. Bent him around, flexed him, and checked the clarity of his eyes. His eyes were running a little, but with the drought and the dust flying around, it was no big surprise. The wolf teeth were a little sharp. I found his teeth may or may not need to be floated.

  My next big question was, does he load in a two-horse straight load? The man said he didn't know. Since we had it with us. We haltered him and pointed him in the right direction. Rusty was hesitant at first, but  feed, and with a small amount of coaxing and he went right in. Yay! We had our 12 year old Granddaughter ride him, since he was advertised as a kid friendly horse. She rode him around, while I watched his every move. He was pleasantly quiet and laid-back, never raising his head above the saddle horn. He was alert and responsive to her lack of knowledge. on and I talking for a few minutes and agreed he was what we were looking for in a horse. Ron, then asked the man what his bottom dollar was. He asked us how much are we willing to spend. His original price was 1000.00's and we offered him 800.00...Sold! at 800.00

  The seller then, wrote us a bill of sale, gave us a copy of the expired coggins and we paid him for Rusty. He was pointed in the direction of the trailer and he loaded right up with no problems. The man thanked us for doing business with him and off we went. The ride home was chatty and feeling good about the buy, we had noticed that Rusty was as quiet as a mouse during the ride. As we pulled up to the gate, we drove through and let him out of the trailer. He was still quiet and gentle to handle, even though our horses were wondering about the new pasture friend. We tied him up, put a saddle on him and he rode off as quiet as he did for us during the buying process.


 Still feeling good about everything...I decided he needed to be bathed because of the dust on him. He took that like a champ. I sprayed him all over with the water. Rinsed his head off and shampooed him without any issues what-so-ever! He stood quietly through-out the whole thing. When he was dry, I fly sprayed him, got his feed ready and threw him some hay. We were so pleased at how he responded to us. We then left him to bed down for the night.

Ron and Rusty

Profile of Rusty's petite little head.